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Hooverphonic is a Belgian music group formed in 1996 as a trip-hop outfit. They quickly expanded their sound to the point where they could no longer be pigeonholed into one genre. The band originally called themselves Hoover but later changed their name to Hooverphonic after discovering other groups were already using the Hoover name.

The band achieved international recognition through the inclusion of the track "2Wicky" (from A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular) on the soundtrack to Bernardo Bertolucci's 1996 film Stealing Beauty (Io Ballo da Sola). The original members of the group were vocalist Liesje Sadonius, keyboardist Frank Duchêne, bass guitarist and programmer Alex Callier, and guitarist Raymond Geerts. Sadonius left Hooverphonic on amicable terms shortly after the release of A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular and was replaced by Geike Arnaert in early 1998.

After an extensive European tour with artists such as Massive Attack, Morcheeba, Apollo 440, a support tour with Fiona Apple in the United States 1997, the band released Blue Wonder Power Milk in 1998 with Arnaert on vocals. A marked departure from their debut, the album is driven less by breakbeats and samples and more by organic string elements and traditional song structures. The single "Club Montepulciano" was a minor college hit in the U.S., and "Renaissance Affair" was featured in the North American commercial campaign for the new Volkswagen Beetle. The band followed up Blue Wonder Power Milk with 2000's The Magnificent Tree, which expands on the sound of Milk but with a much darker tone. Highlights from the album are the string-laden "Out Of Sight","Mad About You", and the title track, which borrows heavily from Crosby Stills and Nash's "Guinnevere". The same year, Alex Callier was asked to write a song specifically for the opening ceremony of the 2000 European Football Championship, taking place in Belgium and the Netherlands. The result - a 12-minute long track called "Visions" - became the theme song of the games and its performance by Hooverphonic during the opening ceremony was heard by more than than 1 billion people. On the heels of Tree's success, the band became the first Belgian outfit to headline Rock Werchter in 2001.

2002 saw the group shifting gears again, this time releasing the concept album Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane. The concept album tells the fictional story of the title character, a lounge singer catapulted into stardom at the expense of her relationship with her twin sister. Driven to the brink of insanity by the pressures of fame, Jackie quits show business and returns home to attempt reconciliation, where her sister poisons both herself and her sister Jackie with a last supper. Jackie Cane retains the dreamy elements of Hooverphonic's previous works, most notably on songs "Nirvana Blue" and "Human Interest", but tracks like "The World Is Mine" (the first single) and "Day After Day" have a clear Broadway showtune quality to them. The album went platinum in Belgium and won the group ZAMU's Best Pop/Rock Band and Best Album awards in 2002.

In 2003 the band released a live-recorded album entitled Sit Down And Listen To Hooverphonic, featuring a selection of songs from the band's body of work, as well as new songs "Antarctica" and "The Last Thing I Need Is You," and a cover of Lee Hazlewood's "My Autumn's Done Come". The band launched into an extended European tour in September of 2003 performing in over 100 concert halls in Europe.

The band completed their recording of their fifth studio album, a double CD entitled No More Sweet Music/More Sweet Music, which is slated for worldwide release in January 2006.

Discography

• A New Stereophonic Sound Spectacular (1996)
• Blue Wonder Power Milk (1998)
• Battersea EP (1999)
• The Magnificent Tree (2000)
• Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane (2002)
• Sit Down and Listen to Hooverphonic (2003)
• No More Sweet Music (2005)

External links

• Hooverphonic Official Site (Flash Plug-In Required)
• Hooverphonic Lyrics

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